Section: The United Kingdom
Igor Sechin, head of Rosneft, is powerful as never before
Burning bright “HELLO, you’ve called Rosneft,” goes a joke making the rounds in Moscow. “If you have an oil asset and you don’t plan to sell, press the hash key.” The Russian word for hash key, reshetka, also means “bars”, as in jail—where those who cross Rosneft’s head, Igor Sechin, tend to land. Mr Sechin is one of the most...
EU leaders agree to extend Russia sanctions until mid-2017: diplomats
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to extend the bloc’s main economic sanctions against Russia over the turmoil in Ukraine for six months until mid-2017, diplomats said. …read more Source:...
NATO-Russia Council to meet on Monday: Stoltenberg
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO envoys will hold a formal meeting with Russia on Monday after Moscow agreed to discuss the conflict in eastern Ukraine and as the alliance seeks to avoid any escalation of the East-West standoff. …read more Source:...
EU leaders struggle to find unity over Ukraine agreement
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Suspected Russian mercenary leader attended Kremlin reception
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A man identified as a Russian mercenary leader in Ukraine and Syria by an authoritative website attended a Kremlin reception earlier this month, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said on Thursday, raising questions about the man’s links to the authorities. …read more Source:...
Dutch PM Rutte: ‘a bit more optimistic’ on Ukraine deal at EU summit
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Thursday he was “a bit more optimistic” that EU leaders would back additional caveats to the bloc’s landmark agreement with Ukraine, key to helping the former Soviet state move out of Russia’s orbit. …read more Source:...
View from Estonia: flaky friends and a neighbour from hell
©Peter Kollany/Bloomberg Via Getty Images Hunched over the wheel of a night bus from Lithuania, our driver stares out at the icy roads that pass through Latvia and up to Estonia, lined on each side by forests and cabins. A drift of fog keeps him squinting through the darkness, left to guess what lies up ahead. The triumph of Donald Trump has left...
How the left should respond to the steady march of nationalism
The new wave of nationalism is a reminder of the contingent, if not cyclical, nature of history. The liberal left cannot retreat to the comforts of moral outrage. “Their world is collapsing. Ours is being built,” remarked Florian Philippot, the chief strategist of France’s Front National, after Donald Trump’s victory. Trump’s...
Dutch court rules ancient gold from Crimea ‘must be returned to Ukraine’
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EU leaders to endorse Dutch demands on Ukraine: sources
BRUSSELS/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – European Union leaders, anxious to preserve a landmark cooperation agreement with Ukraine, will address Dutch concerns on Thursday by saying the deal does not give Kiev the status of a candidate for membership of the bloc, diplomats said. …read more Source:...
